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Cartoons: Khamenei sees Israel's hand

Atul Aneja

Two more killed in Afghan protests

DUBAI: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused western newspapers of collaborating with Israel by publishing cartoons of Prophet Muhammed, which have triggered an outcry across the Islamic world.

Addressing air force personnel, Ayatollah Khamenei said the caricatures amounted to a "conspiracy by Zionists who were angry because of the victory of Hamas," the Islamic group, which won by a wide margin in the recent Palestinian elections. The comments have followed violent protests in Iran on Monday when large crowds attacked the Danish and Austrian embassies with petrol bombs, stones and firecrackers. The cartoons were first published in a Danish newspaper in September. Newspapers in other European countries including France carried them in the name of freedom of expression.

Challenging the argument, leading Iranian daily Hamshahri has invited foreigners to participate in a cartoon competition on the Holocaust . "Does the West extend freedom of expression to the crimes committed by the United States and Israel, or an event such as the Holocaust? Or is its freedom only for insulting religious sanctities?" asked the daily.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had spoken to his Danish counterpart, Per Stig Moeller, and asked Denmark and other European governments to "compensate for their mistake" of publishing the cartoons. The Ministry also summoned the Bulgarian Ambassador to protest the publication of the caricatures by Bulgarian newspapers.

NATO base attacked

Protests appeared to gather momentum in Afghanistan, where hundreds of demonstrators attacked the NATO base of Maymana, where a large Norwegian contingent has been deployed.

The NATO forces resorted to firing, resulting in the death of two protesters and injury to 13. Police used batons to disperse a crowd, which stoned the Danish embassy in Kabul, while clashes were also reported from Heart and Pulikhumri, north of Kabul.

Seeking to put a lid on the protests, the Turkish and Spanish Prime Ministers have written a joint article in the International Herald Tribune, where they have appealed for calm.

In Dubai, visiting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called upon Muslims to accept the apologies offered by the Danish newspaper and to act with "calm and dignity."

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